Data Reduction Software

Base camp

On the Linux PCs MIDAS, IRAF, IDL, p2pp, gv, gimp, firefox and more are installed. Below is some detail information on the data reduction tools available:

IRAF: To start it, type xgterm, then in the new terminal type cl. After IRAF has started, from within the IRAF prompt type ds9 to start the image display (not!ds9).
NOTE: The display is operating in 24 bit mode, so other image display tools, like ximtool or sao image will not work properly on the PCs.

MIDAS: To start MIDAS, simply type from an xterm the command inmidas

IDL: To start IDL, just type IDL from any directory. The ASTRON library is available.

In the Control Room

IRAF is installed on the wgsoff# workstations. To start IRAF simply log onto one of the user accounts and type cl. Alternatively, IRAF can be started by selecting the iraf option with the middle mouse button. A ds9 display should start automatically. The default display size is 2048x2048, which is suitable for displaying FORS images.

We no longer use pipes to display images with ds9, so it seems to take a bit longer to display images (especially the first one) than was the case in the past. Only ds9 issupported. Other display tools such as ximtool, sao image and saotng are not supported.

Only one ds9 per user per account can be used. If your ds9 is not working, it means that another ds9 has been started from the same machine with the same user account.